


White Winter Hymnals

by doc_boredom



Category: oneyplays
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Drabble, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Snow Day, oneyplays - Freeform, this was darn cute to write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-14 00:12:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12995571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doc_boredom/pseuds/doc_boredom
Summary: "Maybe it's the snow, the endless winter nights. And the winter coat, the one you never liked..."Human traditions are strange, what with snow and skiing and mistletoe kisses, but then again, Ding Dong is always happy to learn, especially if Julian's the one teaching him.





	White Winter Hymnals

**Author's Note:**

> A drabble requested by guessimnolongeranonymous on tumblr for Ding Dong experiencing his first ever snow. I may have gotten a little carried away. It's Christmas season, after all.
> 
> Chapter summary lyrics from Sufjan Steven's "Christmas in July", title from Fleet Foxes "White Winter Hymnal" because I'm the /biggest/ hipster.
> 
> Send them my way at officialvideogamedunkey!!!

He’s been on Earth for more than 200 days. 

He landed among the blazing heat of the California’s summer, flying into what felt like a hellscape of fire and death (he would later find out that was a common occurence here, what with the state’s unceasing wildfires and Earth’s increasingly tilted climate.) 

Since then, he had found himself learning something new for each day of those 200 he had spent here. Earth’s customs were surprisingly strict, he found as time went on, what with what one was expected to wear and do and act in public (don’t get him started… that had been quite the situation), but everything was a little easier to take on with Chris and Julian by his side.

Two humans in their own right. Chris, always laughing and throwing his arms up and making himself known to the world, like it was worse off without him, like it needed to be reminded that yes he did exist, and Julian…

Julian who had found him near drowning in that pool, who had pulled him out and had beat the water out of his lungs and had stayed with him until he could breathe again. 

Julian, giggling into his hands at Chris’s so called “shenanigans.”

Julian, nearly asleep at his desk, slumped over his current work in progress.

Julian, smiling at him from across their shared space, calling his name softly.

Julian, Julian, Julian.

Sorry mother, sorry father. Your son has officially fallen for an Earthen! Hope once the ship is fixed that you won’t mind terribly that he comes along. That is, if he can just… confess his feelings.

It’s December and it’s decidedly cooler, but it’s still California, so there’s an insistence to the temperature, a lingering heat. “Yeah, Matt and Ryan wanna do this stupid video up at a ski resort.” They’re all crammed onto Chris’s couch and Ding Dong can’t help but tilt his head, staying quiet as he listens to the other. “I don’t think either of them can ski for shit, so you know how that’s going to go.”

“Matt’s legs are ski poles already.” Julian’s laughing then. Sometimes his stomach gets twisted up on itself when Julian talks about Matt. The other human was alien in himself sometimes. All sharp angles and hollow boned and screeching laughter that bounced off the walls of the apartment, but then there were moments where that all pulled itself together and you could see the beauty in it.

Julian did too, apparently.

“Why do we care?” Ding Dongs say from his slouched position and both eyes are on him. Yikes. “It’s just… were they going to record with us or something?” He’s gotten good at this, this faked casual persona that mumbles and stares at the world through heavily lidded eyes. 

“More like-!” And Chris is slapping something down on the table. “We’re invited!”

Julian’s wide eyed at the papers. Chris is still talking, saying about how their friends fell through for the whole thing and it was already paid for and damn it, they should just come because everybody needed a break after the shit show that had been 2017. “Yeah! Yeah this is great. Ding Dong!” Julian’s scooting infinitely closer and flapping the papers at him with a gentle insistence. “You’re coming!”

“Am I?” He smiles some, unable to help himself. 

“Yeah! Chris, do you have any spare winter clothes laying around?”

“Some, yeah.” 

“Perfect.” And as he stares at the reservation print out, Ding Dong can’t really help but think the same thing despite not knowing what the hell he was getting into.

-

For reasons unknown, for the sheer fact of antagonizing him, for what people called karma on this planet he supposed… they leave at an ungodly hour. 

He spent the night before streaming, unable to get to sleep, sighing softly over the microphone to complete strangers on the internet. They were all so curious, all speaking over one another as the chat flew by, practically unnoticed by him. There were some comments though, comments that made his cheeks heat some as people noticed the way he called to Julian during some streams, the foolish social media posts he made in the middle of the night before he hastily deleted them.

(Didn’t these people have anything else better to do?)

Julian’s helping him with the zipper of his coat and he can’t even bring himself to notice how close the other is, not with sleep curling its way around his shoulders with such a warm, enticing embrace, especially in the oversized coat. “There we go. How late did you stay up last night.” There’s a lightly callused hand on his cheek then and he leans into it with a soft noise. “Late.” Julian says then and rubs his thumb some. “You sleep in the car, yeah?”

“Okay…” He doesn’t want Julian to pull his hand away, but the other is giving his cheek a soft pat before he’s telling Chris he’ll be right back.

He’s sprawling out in the back seat, barely able to keep his eyes open when there’s something soft and large being shoved at him. “I brought our son!” Julian’s laughing and oh, it’s their whale. He had bought it late one night online and Julian had exclaimed when it had arrived in a box that could barely fit through the door. “A whale!” He had said when they finally unboxed it in the hallway, the two of them sitting knee to knee, the smiling whale between them. “It’s so  _ cute _ .” There had been such a soft insistence to Julian then that it had been nearly impossible not to just throw himself at the human and kiss him finally.

Ding Dong hugs the whale some and snuggles down into the back seat. “I’ll make sure that Chris doesn’t drive us off the road! You sleep well, okay.” There’s a hand on the crown of his head, skimming past his ears and that feels so good. Tell him, something in him insists, but he’s too tired, too shy, too… everything.

He just sighs before he’s falling asleep, the dark of the not-yet-dawn aiding the process all too well.

-

It’s near blinding when he opens his eyes some time later. 

“Hey sleepy head!” Julian’s peeking at him, curls springing out from under from what may be the cutest hat Ding Dong has ever seen. Why does it have that strange pom pom at the top? He had learned humans liked the unnecessary aesthetic of things. At their base, almost everything served a purpose, but beyond that… Ding Dong just accepted it at this point. Chris turns in his seat too, beanie drawn over his brows, grinning some. 

“Morning sleeping beauty! Here!” There’s a hat being thrown at him too. Nothing like Julian’s but still decorated with… 

“What are these?” He points at the strange shapes. Julian’s eyes widen some and Chris is shaking his head at his friend. “What? What’re you-”

“You’ll see. Don’t look up! No! Keep your eyes closed!” Chris is practically jumping in his seat. “Ohhhh my God, dude, I love aliens. This is going to be good.”

“Chris…”

“I promise! For real this time!!! Julian, c’mon, tell him!”

“It is. It really, really is.” And if Julian’s giddy from it, then Ding Dong can give Chris the benefit of believing in him despite all the bullshit the other has pulled in the past. He closes his eyes and waits until he hears the car door open. Oh shit, that’s cold. Despite the hat on his head and the scarf tucked into Chris’s old jacket and even the ridiculous “long johns” they told him to put under his pants and the boots on his feet, he can still feel the  _ cold _ of it. “Keep ‘em closed. Julian, you got him, right?”

“I got him.” His own bare hands are being held by Julian’s gloved ones and he just wants to touch the other’s hand, damn it. “Okay, okay. Here is good, right?” 

“Yeah!”

Despite his eyes being closed he can still see the sun through them, painting the insides of his lids and his lungs are almost aching from the cold. “Okay, open them!” 

He sees Julian first, standing in front of him with largest smile in the world. Everything else comes into focus after. White and blue and piercing and sparkling like diamonds.

“What…”

“It’s snow!!!” Julian’s got a handful of it and he’s throwing it up and it floats and drifts and spins and it almost burns when it touches his bare hands. 

“Snow.” Ding Dong repeats back before he’s on his knees, feeling the freezing wetness of it through his pants. “What’s snow?”

“Snow’s like, frozen rain. Fuck, I don’t know, I’m sure they taught us the definition in middle school.” Julian’s shoveling more into his hands, packing it together, grumbling some when it falls apart. “S’too soft...”

“Too soft for what?”

“A snowball.”

“A  _ what _ ?” 

“Julian, you’re going to overload his alien brain. Let’s get back in the car.” He turns and sees Chris with his phone held aloft. “That was great, dude.”

“Did you record that?! Chris!” He’s standing abruptly and he gives a squawk when his limbs pinwheel at the lack of traction under his feet. He’s falling, the pure blue sky above him almost mocking in its perfection and he’s actually scared for a moment.

Until he realizes he’s fallen right into Julian’s arms.

“Woah… hey there.” Julian’s got snow in his hair and Ding Dong’s never seen anything cuter in his life. Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. This isn’t fair. “Gotta be careful, snow can get slippery. Oh! Chris! We gotta show him ice skating! You’re gonna love it.” 

_ I’d love anything you show me, Julian. _ He should say that. He’s watched a handful of romance movies at this point (research, he would insist if anybody asked) and that’s something a suave, handsome love interest would say, but he’s just a noodle limbed gray alien that liked to play video games… so instead he just manages a half smile and shrug and Julian’s returning it and at least  _ there’s _ that.

-

They sneak him into the resort fairly easily. It’s rustic with it’s timber and sloping roof and handmade quilts on the bed. The whole place is done up for Christmas, something Julian and Chris had told him about months ago and he still found the whole idea of it extravagant and yet terribly endearing (he had yet to buy Julian a present, and Chris as well, a prospect that was putting him into a panic as they neared the holiday.) 

The day went by fairly quickly. Chris going off with Ryan and Matt to record and they had found ways to busy themselves without revealing his alien status to anybody. He had tried hot cocoa for the first time (nearly burning his entire mouth at the first gulp, which Julian panicked at and they were both made the center of attention as they flailed about helplessly in the center of the dining area of the ski resort) and they had walked around for a bit, watching people zip down the mountain in tubes and on skis and snowboards alike. They were on a bench together, Ding Dong’s hands curled around a now cool mug of hot cocoa. “You humans…” He said softly, drawing Julian’s attention.

“Hm?”

“Just… what you’ve come up with to fill the time. It’s unbelievable. What can’t you do…”

“Plenty.” Julian’s shoulder presses up against his. “But yeah, you know, you’re right… we do have a lot of stuff we can do. And we spend it playing video games and eating curry.”

“Oh don’t talk about curry, you’re gonna make me hungry Julian.” A hot bowl of curry sounded so good right now. “We do other stuff too, you know!”

“Oh, like what?” The human is grinning now and Ding Dong huffs some. 

“Well you show me new things every day! Like how to make scrambled eggs, and you showed me how to fix the shower that one time, and you draw and it’s so good Julian. You’re amazing.” When did they get so close? “Remember when we went to the beach late at night when no one else was there and you showed me how to make a sandcastle and you said it was stupid but I-!” He swallows, suddenly nervous, but fuck it. He can do this. “I loved it! And that time where you and Chris went to the zoo and you recorded the whole trip so you could come back home and show me the animals! I loved that too!”

“Ding Dong…”

“A-and today, I just… you said you wanted to make a snowball and I don’t even know that is, or what ice skating is, but I want to do that with you. I want to do everything!” He stops then because he’s damn near worn out from it and Julian’s staring at him and there’s a nervousness creeping up his spine. Oh please don’t be weirded out, please…

“Forget the snowball. I wanna make a snowman.” Julian says.

“A-A what?”

“C’mere.” 

And that’s how Ding Dong finds himself in the snow a bit away from everyone else, watching as Julian starts to roll the snow up into a ball. “I thought you said we were making a snowman.”

“We are, give it a second. You start making another one, but it’s gotta be a bit smaller than mine.”

“O-okay.”

And it’s a bit hard at first. The snow here is a bit firmer than the snow that had been on the side of the road where they had stopped earlier, but it’s lopsided and strange and he feels weirdly frustrated that it’s not Julian’s near perfect giant ball of snow. “Here, lemme help!” Julian trots over and he makes it look so  _ easy _ . “One more…”

And when they’ve stacked all three on top of each other, Ding Dong is just as confused (if not more) by the sight. “Um…”

“Snowman!” Julian says. “Wait, wait! I can make it even better!!!” He packs just a bit more snow in his hands before he puts two more shapes on top. “Okay, and…” He’s drawing a face on it and throwing his hands up. “Snow Ding Dong!”

“Julian!” He’s laughing because yeah, that kind of is him! He goes over to the human and pulls his scarf down, smiling at the other. “I love it.”

“You better. I worked hard on it.” Julian’s cheeks are pink from the cold and he’s smiling back and god.

He just wants to kiss him.

His body is moving forward of its own accord but before he can open his mouth there’s a yell. “HEY!!! YOU GUYS! COME ON!” It’s Chris and Ryan and Matt and Ding Dong could honestly kill all three of them and not feel a lick of remorse over it.

“Coming!” Julian calls back before he looks back at Ding Dong. “We should uh… head back in. You’re probably cold. I know I am!”

He bites back a sigh and nods. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Casting one last glance back at this snowy doppelganger, he tries not to think about it too hard.

-

“Oh!” Ryan and Matt are nowhere to be seen but Chris is there in the main room. “Took you guys long enough.” Ding Dong opens his mouth to object and call Chris out but the other human is slipping past them. “I uh, actually forgot something. I’m gonna… go.”

“Chris.”

“Joooolian~!” He goes ignored, nothing unusual for Chris but still. He’s already feeling pretty damn shitty. He growls some but the Irish man continues to blabber on. “You should use your eyes more, mister.”

“What? Chris, what are you talking about?” 

Chris points up before he’s out the door and Ding Dong follows the gesture. “...What the hell is that?”

“What is- oh.” 

It looks like some kind of garnish for a fancy dish tied up with a red ribbon on the doorway. “What is that, Julian?”

“Uh, it’s uh… it’s mistletoe.”

“It’s what now?” Julian’s gaze is darting around nervously. “Is Chris pranking us? I’m going to kill him.”

“No, it’s just… um…” Julian’s reaching up then and undoing his scarf with careful fingers. Ding Dong blinks at the other in confusion as it’s pulled away from his throat. “You know how earlier you said that humans are good at uh, finding stuff to do in their free time? A-and about how you liked trying new things too?”

“Yeah, Julian, what does that have to do with this?” He furrows his brow and then Julian’s hands are at the collar of his coat, gripping the fabric some. 

“Well, who knows when, but one day someone must have said ‘gee, I really just wanna have an excuse to kiss someone, why don’t I put some stupid shit above a doorway and call it a day.’” And before he can respond.

Julian’s kissing him.

His eyes go saucer wide and oh, oh god. Julian’s _kissing_ him. The human is pulling away, his own expression shocked, like he can’t believe he just did that.  
“Do that again.” He manages and Julian’s smiling and kissing him again and again and even when he hears Chris shouting “FINALLY!” from the hallway he doesn’t care because he’s got Julian in his arms and there's snow falling outside and everything is perfect.

 


End file.
